2021 Contractor of the Year

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY

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2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR SPONSORED BY

Congratulations again on being named to the 2021 class of Equipment World’s Contractor of the Year!

We wanted to give you this Yearbook in recognition and remembrance of this accomplishment. In it you’ll see your story along with those of each member of the 2021 class. We’ve also added a selection of photos from the event.

We hope you enjoy this look back!

Equipment World Editors and The Caterpillar Team

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR TABLE OF CONTENTS

Scenes from the 2021 event.............. p. 6 Winner Matt Pruss, Pruss Excavation.................. p. 10 Finalists Chip Kronau Construction...................... p. 15 Concrete Cutting Systems.......................p. 18 D&G Excavating...................................... p. 21 Eco Turf................................................... p. 24 James A. Rogers Excavating................... p. 27 Jason Guelig Excavating ........................ p. 30 Jimerson Underground .......................... p. 33 MRTE....................................................... p. 36 Oak Hill Contractors................................p. 39 Preferred Paving .................................... p. 42 W.F. Delauter & Son................................ p. 45

SCENES FROM CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR

6 SCENES FROM CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR

7 SCENES FROM CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR

8 SCENES FROM CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR

HONORING WHAT MAKES CONSTRUCTION GREAT

9 SCENES FROM CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR

Pruss Excavation Refashions Fleet After Meeting Dual Flood Challenges

by Marcia Doyle

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he construction lineage is deep in the Pruss family. Matt’s grandfather, Jim Sr., started Pruss Excavation in 1968. His father, also named Jim, joined him four years later, and Matt came on board in 2001.

But Matt’s start in construction goes much further back than 2001.

“I got on an excavator when I was 10 years old. When my dad told me to dig, I just kept on digging,” he says with a laugh. “Mom freaked out, but I enjoyed it.” And as he was growing up, both he and brother Scott, who now serves as superintendent with Pruss Excavation, pitched in when his father found himself shorthanded.

Matt Pruss Pruss Excavation City, State: Dodge, Nebraska Year Started: 1973 Number of 40 employees: Annual revenue: $7 million to $10 million Markets served: Levees, roadwork, wetlands, site work, lagoons

Matt and brother Scott Pruss

Matt went on to get a construction management degree, something he didn’t know was available until Freshman Day at the University of Nebraska. He had planned to go into business, but after the dean of the university’s construction management college learned his dad was a contractor, he convinced Matt to switch majors.

“We had some amazing professors who gave us real-world scenarios,” Matt says.

One example: it’s bid day and the students are estimating a project.

The professor would go through the students with a handful of papers with vendor and sub quotes. “He would literally just throw them your way,” Matt recalls. “Some quotes didn’t have bonding and some didn’t include taxes, and you had to figure out the good ones to develop the bid.”

Matt thought the exercise was exaggerated until he got back into the family business right after college. “It was not,” he says.

When Matt came on board, his father’s first instinct was to put him behind the controls of a machine, because he knew exactly how much operator/machine hours translated to the bottom line.

Matt had other ideas, though.

Working in what then were company offices – in the basement of his parents’ home – he started estimating and soon bidding jobs that were outside of the company’s typical work of building terraces for area farmers.

“I know Pruss Excavation grew because of my education,” he now says.

“We could get into the commercial side and chase bigger work.”

So the company began to expand, eventually moving from the basement office to a separate structure on the family farm in Dodge, Nebraska, one and a half hours northwest of Omaha.

Now Pruss Excavation logs $7 million to $10 million in annual revenues, has around 40 employees and does a variety of work, including dams and levees, roadwork grading, wetlands, landfill cell construction, site work and lagoons.

The transition from father to son was gradual as Matt took on bidding, contract management and submittals.

And his brother Scott Pruss now manages several in-field duties, including serving as the firm’s quality control manager.

A turning point was a $3.4 million dam project in 2008; the company came in low by $8,000.

“It was a great job for us,” Matt recalls. Started right before the economy soured in the Great Recession, it also helped the company weather that economic storm.

Major floods hit Nebraska in 2011 and 2019, and both changed the makeup of Pruss’ equipment fleet.

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Floodwaters

Pruss Excavation was to weather more storms, this time the meteorological variety. Major floods hit Nebraska in 2011 and 2019, and both changed the makeup of the company’s equipment fleet.

During the 2011 flood, Cat dealer NMC called and asked Matt if he still had the Challenger tractors with pullbehind scrapers. The company had eight at the time.

NMC was renting haul trucks to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on levee repair work after the flood, and the Corps decided the trucks weren’t the right equipment for the job. It was spending too much time building roads for the trucks and not enough time hauling dirt.

Pruss soon had six Challengers with pull-behind scrapers on the job and then bought five more from a dealer in Florida. Even that wasn’t enough, and it had to rent additional machines.

“By the time that project was done, we had 70 machines running, including 23 pull-behinds along with support

equipment,” Matt says. “That was our huge, giant boost. Before, we were doing around $3 million a year, and with that project, we hit more than $8 million.”

It didn’t hurt that the job had a $43-an-hour federal wage. “I had guys from all over the country wanting to work for us,” Matt says. “Finding labor was not an issue.”

Of course, high demand comes with its own challenges. Pruss’s competition was doing the same thing, and everyone was scrambling for equipment and parts.

The 2019 flood also had an equipment fleet impact, with Pruss buying six dozers to handle the flood mitigation work. “We were going in with 40 additional people, so I was buying things up like crazy,” he says. “We had nine dozers on that site running every day.” The job also racked up machine hours. “At one time we were working 12-hour days seven days a week. My operators were making amazing money.”

Pruss also put two mechanics on the 18-month job. “I knew stuff was going

to fail and what we had to do to fix it,” he says.

In assessing the levee repairs done on the project, a reviewer with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ranked Pruss’s quality and scheduling as “exceptional.” The review said: “Not only was the levee repair a phenomenal effort and of exceptional quality, but the Pruss Excavation team even went out of their way to ensure that all work areas were clean and properly grade.”

The Corps took special note of how the two Pruss brothers worked together: “Matt and Scott’s combined teamwork really and truly enabled the success of this project…[they] were always synchronized in all efforts and activities and any absence by one was seamless with no disruption in performance.”

Regarding cost control, the Corps assessment added: “It was a skillful performance, and Matt’s pricing and responsiveness rivals that of much larger organizations observed over the past two years performing similar work. The best aspect of working with

Pruss jobsite huddle

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Pull-behind scrapers became the go-to machine for the company’s levee work.

them is that they always construct a great product.”

Of course, the all-of-the-sudden levee repair work had to be managed with prior commitments.

“They had a very challenging project with us, and they continued to push through on our job and honor their obligations even while they were doing the levee work,” says Luke Ridder with Hawkins Construction.

“A lot of contractors would just chase the flood work,” he adds, “but Matt stuck around, and he kept the job moving. It was a big deal. Matt knows he can’t just be an owner and pick up a paycheck. He’s very involved and he drives the ship on their modeling.”

This flood remediation experience came into play when the company bid on an emergency $1.05 million contract with a 144-hour turnaround. The job required over 33,500 tons of materials to be imported to close a breach that was 350 feet long and over 25 feet deep with floodwater still flowing through it. “We had a pre-bid meeting at 1 p.m.

They wanted bids at 4 p.m. and would

Matt Pruss converted a Cat bucket into a 1,000-pound coffee table that’s now in his den.

Behind him is his collection of 1950’s era scale models.

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Matt Pruss with the Contractor of the Year award; his father, Jim, who was a finalist for the award in 2004; and his brother, Scott.

sign the contract at 4:05 p.m.,” Matt says. “We were low by $11,800 and got it done early.” The project required a dozen operators and 30 trucks.

“A week later we were low bid on another fast-track levee repair,” Matt says. “We were low by $55,000 on a $2.8 million contract with a 168hour completion. We successfully completed that repair on-time as well.”

Matching fleet to job demand

“We have had more machines than people throughout the years, and we’re still that way,” Matt says. This also allows Pruss Excavation to stage an upcoming jobsite while finishing another and lessen time spent on mobilization.

Its fleet of pull-behind scrapers now numbers 32. “Pull-types are awesome in the wet and the sand,” Matt says, noting that the company also uses Cat 627 selfpropelled scrapers in drier conditions.

Although the bulk of his fleet is in the large machine category – including

dozers, excavators, articulated trucks, scrapers and scraper tractors – Matt also uses skid steers as support machines.

“We’re also heavy into Topcon GPS,” he says, “and in addition to dozers, scrapers and motor graders, we also put the excavators on grade control. We’ve found it very user friendly.”

While operators are responsible for daily greasing, Pruss uses NMC to handle PM tasks. “They’ll service my entire fleet, no matter the brand,” he says. Engine, transmission and other major repairs go to dealers.

Today’s machine telematics also help with service, he says. “When we get a warning, dealers can diagnose and know where the machine is and what they need to fix it.”

But he’s also learned these convenient diagnostics can eat up tech time if an easy fix is not readily apparent. “I always press my dealers for warranties that cover diagnostics,” Matt says. “I don’t want to be billed for the time it takes them to figure out a problem.”

Legacy

Being named the 2021 Contractor of the Year has special resonance for Matt.

His father, Jim Pruss Jr., was named a Contractor of the Year finalist in 2004.

Both his father and brother attended the Contractor of the Year event and witnessed his win.

Neither is surprised he came away with the award. Matt’s clients and vendors also notice his attention to detail in how he approaches his jobs.

“He’s a heck of a businessman,” says his dealer representative Kevin Peterson with NMC. “And you can see it in the way he’s grown.”

“They know the type of leadership it takes to run a great small business,” says Ridder. “They just get it done.”

“We let our work to speak for us,” Matt says. “We want to under-promise and over-perform instead of the other way around.”

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2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

“Dozer Therapy” Turns into Loads of Work for This N.Y. Contractor

by Don McLoud

T

herapy for Chip Kronau is 10 hours on a dozer.

“Leaving the phone in my truck and to go out and grade a parking lot or something, that’s just like heaven to me,” he says.

But the owner of Chip Kronau Construction & Equipment in Poestenkill, New York, doesn’t have that much time these days for pushing dirt. Despite being shut down for two weeks during the pandemic, the company has been its busiest ever. That puts him out on the company’s multiple jobsites every day making sure the work meets his high standards for quality and safety, or in the office making sure the company is getting paid and the work keeps coming in.

The bulk of the company’s work is private commercial, such as excavation and site work for convenience stores, storage companies and nursing homes.

It also performs emergency utility repairs for local municipalities. It has grown from $300,000 in volume in 1998, its first year, to $3 million to $5 million annually. The company has steadily added loyal customers over the years and has advanced into 3D machine control on its equipment to increase production and performance.

Chip Kronau Chip Kronau Construction & Equipment City, State: Poestenkill, New York Year Started: 1998 Number of 12 employees: Annual $3 million to revenue: $5 million Markets Commercial excavation served: and sitework for new building construction; subdivision infrastructure; emergency municipal water, sewer and storm sewer repairs

Chip Kronau with Ron Brock, who helped start Chip Kronau Construction & Equipment in 1998.

Standing on a dozer

Chip’s introduction to the industry came through his father who started a residential construction business. At an early age, Chip would go on the jobsites with his father, and by 10, he was operating a dozer.

“Dad said when you’re old enough to reach the pedals, you can start to learn,” Chip recalls and laughs. “So the next week, I got some blocks of

two-by-fours and stuff from one of the jobsites that he was working on and taped them up on the pedals and said, ‘We’re good to go.’”

He was too small to sit in the seat.

He would stand as he operated it.

“And then it kind of just took off from there,” he says. “Pretty much all throughout high school during the summers, I would work for him.”

He gravitated toward the earthmoving side of the business and

the yellow iron. In 1990, he joined his father full time, doing site and foundation work for new homes. In 1998, he bought the excavation arm of the business and started out on his own. He was joined by Ron Brock, who also worked for Chip’s father.

“It was basically the two of us, and then we hired one other guy and built it up over the years,” he says.

They started on residential work and after a year began landing commercial jobs. The big break came when they got a call from New York-based Stewart’s Shops, which owns hundreds of convenience stores.

“We finished a site that another contractor started but couldn’t keep up with the schedule,” Chip recalls. “And we’re still doing work for them today.

They’re one of our major clients.”

The Stewart’s projects are quick jobs on a tight schedule with lots of other crews on a confined jobsite.

You’re also expected to respond at a moment’s notice.

“If they call, you pretty much drop what you’re doing, and you take care of what they need,” he says.

“We developed a good relationship with them.”

Chris Potter, a project manager for

Kronau Construction & Equipment installs pipe for a warehouse and gas station project.

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Stewart’s Shops, would agree.

“They have been one of our top picks since they started working for us over 20 years ago,” he says. “We have very tight schedules for our projects, and they have never failed to meet a completion date, and the quality of work is always topnotch. As a project manager, hiring Chip Kronau Construction makes my job easier.”

Keeping up with the times

Chip believes in adapting to the changes in the industry, especially when it comes to reinvesting in technology and equipment.

In 2015, he started using 3D machine control on a dozer with masts. He later added a dozer with a mastless system and recently bought a next-generation 323 Cat excavator equipped with 3D machine control. He estimates the technology shaves about 30% off the time for a typical grading job on a Stewart’s site.

“You can just have a guy go out on the dozer and do the cuts and fills, and he doesn’t even have to get off the machine,” he says. “You’re not out there pulling stringlines and measuring under the string or shooting with a line level.”

It also helps on the crowded sites because you don’t have to wait for the other crews to move their trucks and stuff out of the way so you can do your layout work.

The GPS on the new excavator came in handy on a recent 100,000-squarefoot self-storage project. “We were able to dig the footings for that whole building without putting a single grade stake in,” he says. “We had a laser set up just to check the grade, and put the excavator on auto-dig.”

In the past, a worker in the trench would use a rover and laser to continuously check the grade and layout. “It’s just a lot smoother, and it goes a lot quicker,” Chip says of machine control.

“If you don’t get onto GPS,” he adds, “you’re going to be pretty much left in the dust, and you’re not going to be competitive with the rest of the companies that are using it.”

Keeping employees and customers

Along with reinvesting in the business, Chip believes in building a family atmosphere at the company. “I view every employee that I have as one of my family members,” he says.

Kronau doesn’t have much turnover, with many employees serving more than 15 years.

“This company treats their employees fairly and they are respectful,” says Brian Carter, sales manager at Milton Cat dealership. “Chip Kronau keeps his staff, and that lends to the integrity and quality of his business.”

Maintaining that quality as the company grows is a top priority for Kronau Construction. “I’m not looking to grow just to get the volume numbers

up, to just be a bigger contractor,” Chip says. “As long as we’re being profitable, we’re doing quality work, and we have an excellent reputation, that’s more important to me than than just the size of the company.”

He always strives to maintain long-term relationships with clients.

He doesn’t advertise for work and doesn’t lack for projects. Other than a two-week shutdown in 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic, Kronau Construction has been busy, and 2020 was actually one of its highest-grossing years.

“We want to do repeat business for the same people,” Chip says. “We want to be the go-to company that when somebody’s got a job, they say, ‘I’m going to call Chip, because I know he’s going to do a good job.’”

Excavator operator Matt Senter has worked at Kronau Construction & Equipment for 17 years.

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2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Concrete Cutting Contractor Goes Green to Grow

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by Don McLoud

avid Nevrotski spent 10 years working his way up the ladder of a concrete drill and saw company when he decided it was time to strike out on his own.

He started with one truck and a few clients. For the next 10 years, he ran Concrete Cutting Systems out of the basement of his family’s row house in northeast Philadelphia. His wife, Barbara, worked nights at her job with the IRS and raised their newborn son and 9-year-old daughter. David worked 20-hour days.

“It was a struggle,” Barbara recalls.

“Everybody that ever gave me advice in business, they said the first five years are the worst. You make five years, you’re going to make it,” David recalls.

“That’s not true. I feel it was 10.”

Twenty-seven years later, Concrete Cutting has 50 employees in Philadelphia and has opened a branch in Pittsburgh with an additional 15

David Nevrotski Concrete Cutting Systems Inc. City, State: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Year Started: 1995 Number of 65 employees: Annual revenue: $11 million to $13 million Markets served: Concrete cutting and drilling; robotic demolition; concrete slurry removal

On a typical saw-cutting job, a Concrete Cutting Systems’ worker is on hand to vacuum up the slurry with one of the company’s 20 vacuum trucks. employees. The company performs saw cutting and drilling for the major utilities in the Philadelphia and Pittsburgh areas and is one of the largest businesses of its kind on the East Coast.

As the company has grown with its customers, it has also advanced with the technology, transitioning to electric saws and demolition robots and establishing a fleet of vacuum trucks to tackle environmental cleanup.

Adapting and growing

Part of the struggle in the early days of Concrete Cutting was the result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which brought a halt to a lot of the company’s business for two to three years.

“You went from busy every day, working day and night, to nothing for almost two years,” he says.

The company made it through that recession without defaulting on any loans. It still maintained utility customers that needed its services, which helped the company pull through. Over time, the gas and utility companies that Concrete Cutting worked for began to grow and have kept growing. He believes

the company’s ability to grow with its customers has been a big part of Concrete Cutting’s success.

“We either had to try and grow with them or else they were going to call somebody else,” David says. “So we made an effort to do what we had to do to grow with them.”

Another reason for its success has been the company’s ability to adapt to changes.

Many of its clients began requiring cleanup of slurry on saw-cutting projects. “So we ended up buying a

tow-behind vac for potholing, and converted it into being able to pick up the slurry on the roadway,” he says.

“Now we own 20 of them. Every time we send a saw truck out, we send a vac truck out with it.”

Along with growing with its customers, it has changed with the ever-evolving concrete saw and drilling industry.

Not long ago, all of the equipment was diesel-powered with a hydraulic pump. But as its customers demanded less emissions and less chance for oil leaks on interior jobs, Concrete Cutting has shifted to electric-powered saws.

An interior demolition job for the University of Pennsylvania hospital led it to take the leap to remotecontrol robots. The company couldn’t use compact loaders with hydraulic hammers, so it hired a company to bring in demolition robots. The job went so well that Concrete Cutting was offered another similar project. The company bought its own Husqvarna DXR robot.

The robots were a big help on a demolition of the old Macy’s building in downtown Pittsburgh. The owners wanted an atrium opening through the middle of the building. The perimeter had to be saw-cut and the middle was broken out. “We had DXRs running around the clock,” he says. “And with the mobility of them, being electric and being inside, they were just great for that type of work.”

Concrete Cutting Systems’ remote-control demolition robots reduce emissions and noise and increase safety for workers on interior demolition jobs.

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Investing in equipment

Another part of the company’s success is its reinvestment in the business.

“Dave never questions the need to have state-of-the-art equipment,” says George Slater, project manager.

David learned about the importance of investing in the business by seeing it done the wrong way. The company he worked for as a saw cutter did not invest back in itself. He remembers going to a job one day when the company’s van broke down. Instead of taking it to be fixed and putting him in another van, he says, “they literally towed my van to the jobsite and left it there, and had me work out of my van for two weeks instead of getting it fixed. They had me drive my own car back and forth to the jobsite.”

He vowed to never do that to his company.

“Our equipment is top of the line,” he says. “Our trucks are no more than five years old when we turn them over.

If you’re going to come to work for us, you’re not going to break down; you’re not going to have issues like that.”

Focus on employees

David cites his employees as the top reason for the company’s success.

The company has a mix of union field employees and office employees.

It stresses the career potential for workers when they join the company.

He also believes in treating his employees like family.

“Dave is a good guy to work for and understanding,” says Rich Sicinski, company controller. “He has a good relationship with all his employees, a friendship-type relationship.” Sicinski says 25 or more have been with the company at least 10 years.

Members of the Nevrotski family have also joined the company. After retiring from the IRS, Barbara helps with accounts. And their 25-year-old son David Jr. has come on board as a flat saw operator.

Despite the success, David remains hands-on, coming in at 5 a.m. and closing the gate on the equipment yard at the end of each day. He’s also maintained the same clients he had when he was starting out.

“In this day and age, it is rare to come across a contractor that is willing and able to make quick changes on the fly to try and help you reach your goals and help satisfy your own clients,” says Mark Bastian, senior vice president, CTX Infrastructure.

“There are not too many companies out there that have all the qualities that I have seen and experienced as Concrete Cutting Systems.”

David Nevrotski with wife Barbara and son David Nevrotski Jr.

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2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

D&G Excavating owners, from left, Brian, Kristin and David Gruhot

Facing Ruin, This Contractor Buckled Down Instead of Buckling Under

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by Don McLoud

n 2007, Brian and Kristin Gruhot were faced with a choice.

The owner of D&G Excavating, Dave Gruhot, had decided it was time for him to get out of the business. He told his son and daughterin-law they needed to find another job or buy the company.

“I didn’t want to find another job,” recalls Kristin. “I loved what I was doing.”

Within a month, all the documents were signed, and the couple were the new owners.

Brian, Kristin and David Gruhot D&G Excavating Inc. City, State: Marshall, Minnesota Year Started: 1979 Number of 34 in peak season employees: Annual revenue: $7 million to $10 million Markets served: Residential site development, street construction and reconstruction, sewer and water construction and reconstruction, commercial building site work, farm drainage repair, custom oversize hauling, aggregate supply, demolition, aggregate production

Dave Gruhot started D&G Excavating in 1979. Now, a third generation of the family is moving into leadership.

Then the Great Recession hit.

The company had done a lot of work for the city of Marshall, Minnesota. For the next two years, no building permits were issued in the city. All construction had stopped. All that was left were some small jobs on farms.

The company had to downsize, sell equipment and trucks. The bank pulled its line of credit. The one thing that saved the new owners was a large life insurance policy they were able to take out a loan on to keep the company going. Their accountant didn’t think they would survive.

But thanks to their determination, solid reputation and willingness to take on most any job, the company pulled through the hard times and has been steadily growing ever since. It’s even started its own daycare center for employees’ children. (More on that later.)

Making friends

“My father-in-law used to joke around that we’re not in the business to make money, we make friends,” Kristin says of Dave Gruhot who passed away in 2008. “A lot of what we do are our repeat customers because of the

relationships that we’ve built.”

Those relationships include nearby municipalities. “If something happens, we are the ones that get the call,” she says. “We’re not the only excavating contractor in the area, that’s for sure, but we probably have the best reputation.” D&G has also been a preferred contractor for the nearby Schwan’s and Archer Daniels Midland plants. It also performs a lot of residential work.

David Gruhot, Brian and Kristin’s son, has grown up with the business and joined the company when he was 16. He began working full time after he graduated from college in 2014.

“I used to ride in the road graders with my dad,” says David, now 29.

“And I actually used to fall asleep next to him in the road grader.”

He says the company is willing to take on emergency work. If there’s a fire, D&G stands ready to bring out an excavator to help fight it.

The company also performs most of Marshall’s snow removal. “We do answer the phone 24 hours during the wintertime,” Kristin says.

Before the recession, the company

expanded into water and sewer work. That complemented its street construction and reconstruction projects. D&G will install all new drainage, water and sewer lines, then perform all the subgrade and grading work. It subcontracts out the paving.

It has also branched out into nationwide customized heavy hauling. And it supplies and delivers aggregate, doing its own rock crushing and screening. It’ll even deliver decorative rock for local homeowners’ landscaping projects.

“We’re kind of a one-stop shop,” says Kristin.

David believes that diversification has helped the company keep growing.

“I think that’s why customers keep coming back is because we’ll do almost anything,” he says.

“D&G is by far the best and most reliable excavating contractor in the area,” says Greg Bladholm of Bladholm Construction. “They are on the job when they’re supposed to be. Their employees are knowledgeable about the work they are to perform, and they are very honest and fair.”

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Third-generation leadership

Sandie Polfliet runs Li’l Diggers Daycare, which D&G Excavating started for employees’ children.

Starting a day care

When an old post office closed nearby and went up for sale, the company bought it and turned it into an employer-sponsored daycare for employees’ children, with the company paying half the rate.

“It definitely is a cost to the company, but also an added benefit,” Kristin says.

There’s a lack of daycare in the area, and the ones that are open have limited hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. That doesn’t work well for construction employees who have to be on the job at 6 a.m. and work 12-hour days during Minnesota’s six-month construction season.

In contrast, the D&G facility – called Li’l Diggers Day Care – stays open from 6 a.m. until the last child is picked up.

It’s open to 12 children. All are D&G employees’ children, but it will accept other kids if there is space.

“Their investment into the community goes far beyond what most people see,” says Ty Brouwer, territory manager at Ziegler Cat.

The goal is to add the technology as older machines are traded in.

David found excavator 2D control helpful last summer when the company was shorthanded. On a street reconstruction project, he was able to perform the sub-cutting on his own with the excavator while another operator dug the drainage. A four- or five-worker job was reduced to two operators. The 2D control has also helped with digging basements and building footings.

Through it all, Brian has kept the company’s crews and projects running efficiently. He also estimates and bids the jobs. He’s worked for the company for as long as he can remember after his father started it in 1979.

“I would get off the bus and go to work every day, that’s all I ever did,” he says.

His main job starting out was running the equipment, mostly an excavator, which he did for 20 years. He didn’t get many days off.

“I got a half a day off to marry her,” he says and laughs.

Brian has helped maintain the company’s close business relationships over the years. But after more than 40 years in the construction business, Brian is starting to look to retirement.

He and Kristin are helping David to one day take over, bringing in a thirdgeneration of leadership to D&G. David is the company’s main road grader operator and a supervisor. He’s also been estimating projects.

“I grew up around it, so it’s all I’ve really ever known,” he says. “I like running the equipment. It’s nice to be able to see the work you’ve accomplished. You can drive around town and say, ‘We did that and we did that.’ It’s kind of a good feeling.”

Growing with technology

D&G has been expanding into machine control. David started with a GPSbased rover. An excavator has been equipped with 2D grade control, and the company is considering adding machine control to a new motor grader.

Above from left, Brian Druhot, underground supervisor Rich Bartz and David Gruhot on a street reconstruction jobsite in Marshall, Minnesota.

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2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

“If you are determined mentally and emotionally and have the will and determination to be successful, you’ll figure out a way to do it,” says Kevin Ennis, president of Eco Turf.

An Environmental Niche Pays Off for This N.C. Contractor

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by Tom Jackson

orking alongside his family in the homebuilding business, development and site work, Kevin Ennis knew he would have his own company someday.

“Just seeing the flexibility and the freedom they had was always intriguing to me,” says Ennis. “I think you realize, if you’re ambitious, you can plow your own path. The older I got it drove me to create something of my own.”

Anything that is, except a homebuilding company. “I just like equipment.

I like machines. I enjoy being in the dirt and being able to start something and finish it relatively quick and see a result,” he says. Rather than pounding nails, Ennis started working for himself doing environmental inspections and erosion-control consultations. It was a new and rapidly changing field and many of the developers and large contractors didn’t have the time or staffed expertise to keep up with the constantly changing rules and regulations. That

Kevin Ennis, Eco Turf City, State: Raleigh, North Carolina Year Started: 1997 Number of 87 employees: Annual $8 million to revenue: $10 million Markets Erosion control and served: consulting for commercial development, highway projects, land development, schools and universities

gave Ennis great opportunities.

“I did a lot of self-educating and research,” he says. “My wife had just started med school, and we didn’t have kids then, so I had a lot of time to do it. And fortunately, the market was not saturated, and I could generate revenue. All you needed was a computer, a set of wheels and healthy legs.”

Ennis became partners with the original owners of Eco Turf, Andy Smith and Clayton Phillis, in 2003 on a handshake deal, giving the company a new partner and a more diverse set of offerings for customers.

In addition to leveraging his knowledge of environmental inspections, Ennis expanded the company into design, inspection and installation of erosion-control measures, such as stormwater ponds, reconstructed wetlands and bioretention devices, to help clients stay compliant with local, state and federal environmental regulations. After Phillis decided to relocate to Florida, Smith and Ennis bought him out.

(Smith, who was vice president, has recently retired.)

When the recession of 2008-2009 hit, Ennis and Smith endured some anxious nights. Neither took a salary for a while. They put the capital back into the company to keep it afloat.

Then an interesting thing happened.

As the recession wore on and contractors and developers started abandoning projects, it became clear that if somebody didn’t shore up the erosion control and environmental aspects of the sites, the financially responsible parties could be liable for civil penalties. Given the scope of its work, Eco Turf quickly found itself categorized as a critical vendor.

This resulted in a growing number of emergency no-bid, get-it-donenow contracts that helped sustain the company during the downturn.

Inspections + installations

Today installations are the bread and butter of the company, but environmental inspections and permitting are still a crucial part of its success. Of its 80-plus employees, 30 are involved in the environmental compliance division. And Eco Turf’s roster of clients has some of the

biggest contractors in the state, including Barnhill Contracting, KWI, Wellons Construction, Gaines and Company, Tennoca, Allegiance Contracting Group, Brinley’s Grading, Wynn Site, Fred Smith Company; and homebuilders like Lennar, Pulte, MI Homes, DR Horton, Taylor Morrison, as well as local developers and custom builders.

“We came out of the recession trying to control our growth while being cautious about purchasing new equipment,” says Ennis. “In 2014, we started seeing some really good numbers and some good profit. And then every year, growth continued to get better and better. We’ve added two additional project managers, an additional mechanic and six management level positions on the inspection side.”

While growth is good, too much can strain management. Ennis believes the company is sized right for the market.

“We are at a size that is healthy,” he says.

“For us to go from where we are now to the next level would be a considerable amount of overhead and expense.”

Large projects like this bioretention pond are a key part of Eco Turf’s installation business.

25 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Controlling erosion often starts with a silt fence, and Eco Turf installs miles of it every year.

Customers agree

A customer of 20 years, Jeff White, CEO of Green Hawk, says: “They are the gold standard and the goto guys in our market. Eco Turf and its employees are topnotch and a pleasure to work with on a regular basis. This is a great company.”

Another longtime customer, Sean Ryan, project manager and estimator for Barnhill Contracting, says: “They are one of the most wellrounded, adaptable and dependable subcontractors that we work with, and they do a tremendous amount of work for us. If they tell you they will do something, you can count on them to get it done in a timely manner.

“Eco Turf treats us with the utmost respect, and from the outside looking in, it seems that they treat their employees, vendors and all their other clients with the same respect.”

Recipe for success

Hiring from within

Because of the technical nature of the inspections and work performed by Eco Turf, Ennis always promotes within if possible. “I think everybody deserves a fair chance to grow.”

Retaining employees also involves fostering an atmosphere of collaboration. “You have to get to know and value your employees, their

goals and ambitions,” he says. “If you let everybody give input and give them a chance to be successful, you create a family atmosphere, which creates longevity in your workforce.”

“I’m all about transparency and open doors,” he adds, “and I never want our employees to feel that they don’t have a say, or their opinion doesn’t matter at Eco Turf.”

Over the long-term, contractors need to know how to manage both failure and success, he says.

“You’re going to have successes and you’re going to have failures, and more failures out of the gate, than successes,” says Ennis. “But if you’re determined mentally and emotionally and have the will and determination to be successful, you’ll figure out a way to do it.”

A good example of this philosophy is to look at the careers of great athletes, he says. “There are highs and lows, and then there are careers. The key when there are lows is to not beat yourself up.”

“Examine why something failed, but get back up and try again,” he adds.

“Hopefully your failures will happen early and not later when failure might be financially crippling. Then position yourself from a business standpoint to bounce back with a different approach for success.”

26 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

This Arkansas Contractor Found a Simple Way to Train Young Workers

by Don McLoud

C

hris Meyer was 18 and working in a retail shop when his grandfather walked in the store one day.

James A. Rogers had started his excavation firm in 1962 and built it up over the years through determination and hard work. He asked Chris if he wanted a raise.

“I’m making $7.75 an hour – of course, I want a raise,” Chris replied.

So began Chris’ entry into the construction business at James A. Rogers Excavating. His first job was flagging traffic on a highway job. After a year he went to college to earn a degree in construction management and continued to work for his grandfather as a laborer. Over time, he earned more responsibility, running commercial and highway projects and eventually becoming general superintendent.

In 2015, Chris bought the company from his grandfather. “I was his retirement plan,” he says.

Since purchasing the company, Chris, now 34, has more than doubled the annual revenues, modernized the internal processes and added new technology, among other improvements. He’s also come up with an innovative, yet surprisingly simple way to train young workers.

Chris Meyer James A. Rogers Excavating City, State: Little Rock, Arkansas Year Started: 1962 Number of 42 employees: Annual revenue: $7 million to $10 million Chris Meyer bought James A. Excavating from his grandfather in 2015. “I was his retirement plan,” Chris says.

Markets Commercial, served: government, residential, earthwork, pipe laying, demolition, site development

The ‘sandbox’ talks

As with most construction companies these days, training young workers is a challenge. So Chris came up with a simple solution. He built a sandbox.

“I mock up the jobs in the sandbox with kinetic sand and die-cast equipment,” he says. “You would actually be amazed how much that does help. Because it gives them a bird’s eye view of what we’re doing.”

Chris also makes a point to retain his workers and show the younger ones their potential career path. He has four workers under age 25 he has already let know he sees them as his next generation of superintendents.

“If we don’t start treating them as superintendents, training them as superintendents right now,” he says, “we won’t have them when we need them.”

Chris Meyer shows the “sandbox” where he gathers workers to go over the jobsite so everyone knows what they are supposed to do.

Taking a gamble

“He built a company with grit, blood, sweat and tears,” says Chris of his grandfather. “He didn’t have much training other than on the job, a life of hard knocks training.”

Chris relied on his grandfather’s wisdom and knowledge of the construction industry in Arkansas. His grandfather prepared him well for everything from bidding jobs to seeing them through to completion. But Chris soon realized he needed help with the inner workings of the business.

In 2018, Chris decided to reinvest $250,000 in the company. “Everybody thought I was crazy,” he says. At the time, the company had plenty of work and was bringing in around $4 million a year in revenue. But he saw that though the company was profitable, it wasn’t growing.

So Chris plowed money into updating the company’s bidding software, its accounting, and its processes and procedures, including safety and human resources. The company had no employee benefits, so he set up company-paid vacation, health insurance of which the company pays 80%, and a 401(k) plan.

Growing with GPS He hired an engineer for project design and estimating and hired a project coordinator. He praises project coordinator Pat Dry for helping to streamline operations. “Before Pat, I was trying to wear all the hats. And it was increasingly stressful for every aspect of my life,” he says.

It also created more of a team focus.

“The teamwork that we all have, we work together,” Dry says. “It’s more of a family. And they seem to all have the same end goals, which is: make it all work.”

Chris also expanded into 3D machine control. All of the superintendents have a base station and rover on their jobs, as well as a dozer equipped with a Leica 3D system. The company also has two trackhoes with machine control.

Engineer and estimator Dee Osieczko builds all the company’s 3D models.

“It 100% effectively increases our production rate,” Chris says.

It took about two years to recoup the costs of the equipment. There are times when it runs into interference, mostly due to trees. He purchased

All of James A. Rogers Excavating’s jobsites have a dozer with 3D machine control.

28 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

additional satellite access, which has boosted coverage.

Taking it to the next level

Since buying the company, Chris’ changes have helped double the firm’s annual revenues to about $9 million.

Today, James A. Rogers Excavating has 42 employees, including Chris’ family members. His mother, Sheri, runs the office as she has done for 28 years while working for her father. Chris also hired his father, Ken, for accounts management. His brother, Bradley, is a superintendent. And his grandfather still comes by to pitch in.

Chris has taken the company in new directions on its jobs as well. The latest new project was to open and close cells at the city of Little Rock’s landfill.

Other projects include levee repairs

for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, site work on a 23-acre expansion of a condo complex, and installing retaining walls, storm drainage and water and sewer on an 11-acre senior living facility project. They also perform grading and build the base for road and highway projects.

Following a vision

Although he’s changed the company’s internal framework, Chris has maintained the same customer service philosophy he learned from his grandfather. And his clients and those he does business with appreciate it.

“If I need him, he’s there,” says Shane Scott of F&F Construction.

“And I wouldn’t use anybody else.

Because when I hire them to do a job, I don’t have to babysit it. If we

have an issue with something, we resolve it right away.”

“Chris Meyer is driven by getting the job done correct the first time,” says Ross Herlocker, premier account manager at Riggs Cat. “The employees are committed to making that happen.”

Chris says his vision for the company is to rise into the $10 million to $12.5 million range in annual revenue. The pandemic has delayed those plans, but he expects to add an office there in three to five years. Above all, he wants to continue to build on the company’s reputation for quality work and reliability.

“I want to be known for doing a good job, being respectful, taking care of issues if we create them,” he says.

“I want to be a part of doing that and growing that.”

The James A. Rogers Excavating team includes, from left, Pat Dry, project coordinator; Heidi Valdez Roeglin, office system coordinator; Dee Osieczko, project estimator and engineer; Sheri Meyer, office manager; Ken Meyer, senior accounts manager; Chris Meyer, president; and company founder James A. Rogers.

29 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Grit and a Dump Truck: How This Contractor Reached His Right Size

J

by Don McLoud

ust out of high school, Jason Guelig got a job washing equipment for a large energy pipeline company. After a year, he was traveling the country as a laborer on directional drilling jobs.

He returned home to Wisconsin and worked for a couple of years for an excavating company. Then he learned that the owner of a local excavating business was retiring. Guelig was turned down by the local banks until one finally gave him an $81,000 loan to buy a dump truck and backhoe from the retiring owner.

So began Jason Guelig Excavating. Since those early days of struggle in 2004, he has grown his business to 20 employees and 80 pieces of construction equipment, thanks to a strong work ethic, lots of energy and loyal customers. He’s also leveraged technology – new and old – to increase productivity. And he enjoys passing along his knowledge to younger generations to help guide their careers.

Jason Guelig Jason Guelig Excavating LLC City, State: Mount Calvary, Wisconsin Year Started: 2004 Number of 20 employees: Annual $3 million to $5 million revenue: Markets Excavation site served: development for residential, commercial, farm; demolition

Keep on truckin’

After buying his first dump truck, Guelig began hauling.

“I started out trucking because that was the easiest line of work to get into with income coming in; so I sat in the truck myself,” he says. “If somebody called for a dump truck that day, I went and did it.”

He bought an old farmhouse to use for the business’ headquarters. The company grew gradually, and he began to hire workers. But with more work came more office duties, which he hates. So when the company got large enough, he hired an office manager to handle all of the billing, dispatch and other indoor duties.

“I cannot get Jason in the office,” says office manager Marie Pierquet and laughs. “He hates paperwork.”

But as much as he hates paperwork, he loves being out in the field. He can often be found in his pickup, which has more than 260,000 miles on it, traveling to all his jobsites every day.

“Around town here I might have six different jobs,” he says. “I just keep going around to them and making sure everything is running at 100%.”

He views his presence on the sites as

important to making sure the company stays on track to meet customers’ needs.

“I pride myself on holding a schedule,” he says. “If I tell you I’m going to be there, I’m going to be there. And if I tell you, it’s going to take two days, it’s going to take two days.”

That attitude has helped him build the company’s reputation and its customer base.

“His word is always good,” says Terah Bowe of Bowe Metal Fabrication.

“We know that he’ll stand by his work and his company. And his work is always exceptional.”

Excavator, roller, dozer always on site

One of the contributors to Guelig’s success is keeping a large fleet of equipment and making sure each sitework job has an excavator, roller and dozer at all times. That ensures the company can respond quickly to the changing demands of the project.

“We’re in a ‘now’ society. Everybody wants things now,” he explains. “The concrete guy shows up and we need this dug out now.”

And when that happens, he has the equipment already there.

“That’s why I have all my connections with general contractors that I have. They know that I’ll be there. I will get it done. And when they’re in a pinch, I’m there also.”

Andrew Lang of Edward Rose Development agrees.

“He gets stuff done,” Lang says. “He’s got the equipment to do what he says he’s going to do.”

Adopting new and old technology

A big part of his equipment strategy is based on 3D machine control, which he started using about six years ago.

He uses it on dozers and an excavator.

“GPS on equipment, it’s not taking over – it has taken over,” he says. “If you don’t have GPS, you’re behind.”

It took awhile to learn to use machine control. He hires a company to build the 3D models. There was a hefty upfront cost for the systems. He estimates it took about six months to recoup that investment through the increased efficiency, accuracy and speed of using GPS. “It was financially tough,” he says.

“There’s growing pains to it. You have to learn it, and learning takes time. But

The last place you’ll find Jason Guelig is in an office.

31 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

them to operate a skid steer. Some of the students have stayed on to work for the company full time.

“I really enjoy the teaching portion of what I do,” he says. “Because it all means something at the end of the day.”

Right-sized

Having started with just a dump truck, a backhoe, a loan and himself, Guelig is pleased with the way his company has grown and hopes to maintain its current size.

“I am just to that point in the size of a company that someone needs to do what I do, and I can’t go bigger because then there needs to be another me,” he says.

He laughs and adds, “And I just can’t do that.”

Skeptical at first, Jason Guelig Excavating made the leap to 3D machine control six years ago and hasn’t looked back.

after you learn it, it’s great.”

Guelig has also found efficiency with some old-school technology – CB radios.

He has them in all his trucks, dozers, excavators and at the office. He bought a repeater and put it on the secondhighest hill in the area to boost the reception range. He paid $700 for an FCC channel.

“I can talk to anybody on this radio,” he says, holding up the mike in his truck. “So this is like old technology that I implement. For me, it works. I can talk to every single dump truck, order gravel.

You can broadcast to everybody.”

about the construction business. He has participated in the local high schools’ Work to School program.

Students spend a half day in school and then the other half on the job. He trains the students, as well as teaches

Nick Pierquet likes the variety of work at Jason Guelig Excavating and being able to approach the owner when he needs to. “You can talk to Jason,” he says.

Linking generations of workers

Keeping younger workers motivated and happy, he says, requires a different mindset. The 41-year-old notes that many of them didn’t grow up on a farm as he and others of his generation did.

“You’ve just got to explain things different to them than the older generation,” he says. But he also makes a point to explain to the older workers that the younger generations can help them with new technology.

“The key is to work with the workforce that you have,” he says.

“Otherwise, you just won’t have any employees at all.”

Guelig also enjoys working with younger generations, teaching them

32 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Alicia Jimerson, owner of Jimerson Underground

She Didn’t Want to Run Her Dad’s Construction Firm – So She Started Her Own

F

by Tom Jackson

or being the fourth-largest city in the country, when it comes to construction, Houston, Texas, often operates like a small town. Everybody knows everybody, and that suits Alicia Jimerson just fine.

Growing up the daughter of a well-known and respected Houston contractor, Jimerson had no intention of going into construction.

But as fate would have it, she started helping out in the office of her dad’s company, and after she graduated from college, she decided to try her hand at the business.

Rather than run her dad’s company, Jimerson hung out her own shingle in 1989 to take advantage of minority-owned business provisions. Soon after, she hired two skilled veterans, Tony Bonner as general superintendent and Tom Nugent as project manager. Today, she has 45 employees and runs a $7 million to $10 million business in Stafford, Texas.

But her first venture into the world of bid letting didn’t go exactly as she had hoped. At a meeting with Houston’s biggest general contractor, “I got my

Alicia Jimerson, Dennis Wolford Jimerson Underground City, State: Stafford, Texas Year Started: 1989 Number of 46 employees: Annual revenue: $7 million to $10 million Markets Underground utilities served: including force mains, lift stations, inlets and sanitary and storm sewer

Underground, so has Houston’s Livestock Show and Rodeo. With more than 100 committees and 37,000 volunteers, it is the largest livestock and rodeo show in the world. It unites everyone from the city’s billionaire oil barons to multinational corporations, civic groups and local businesspeople in a common purpose – generating more than $500 million in scholarships for young people since 1932.

Jimerson joined one of the committees in 1989 and has steadily worked her way up to vice president.

“You would be surprised at how many contractors are involved in the rodeo,” she says.

David Medrano, project manager, (left) and Dennis Wolford look over estimates.

Smooth operations

ass chewed out,” she says. “He told me my numbers were good, but next time I came in with a bid, I had better bring some men with me, that if I didn’t, somebody was going to take advantage of me on pricing.”

Jimerson didn’t win the bid that day, but undeterred, she kept her head down and worked hard. “It was difficult to get doors to open up. And I don’t think I could have done it without the support of Tom and Tony,” she says.

the board in 2008, then chosen as president in 2011. She was also a founding member of the Houston Women Contractors Association.

Just as the relationships developed in construction associations have been important to the success of Jimerson

To keep up with the demand for its services, Jimerson hired Dennis Wolford in 2006 to add some bandwidth on the management side.

He’s now the vice president and keeps all the different departments working together smoothly.

In addition to maintaining relationships outside the company, Jimerson Underground has done well by keeping its relationships with its employees strong. “Nurturing the relationships you have with the people who work for you is important,” Wolford says. “It’s not a one-way street.

They work for us, but we work for

Associations are gold

From the start, Jimerson knew something many contractors learn the hard way, if at all. She understood the key to getting business as a small startup was to build relationships, to meet your peers, shake a lot of hands and pass out business cards.

Thirty years ago, Houston construction may have been a club of good ol’ boys, but that world was changing, due in no small part to the persistence of women like Jimerson.

She joined the Houston Contractors Association and was elected to

Dennis Wolford, vice president, (left) and Alicia Jimerson, president of Jimerson Underground.

34 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Tony Bonner, general superintendent, (left) was the company’s first employee.

Dennis Wolford, vice president, (right) joined in 2006 to help it grow. them as well. The people who have been here 20 and 30 years know that.”

“Your employees are not just employees, they’re family,” says Jimerson. “Yes, you’re here to make money, but you’re also here to make sure their families are taken care of.

That’s what families do, and the longterm employees know this is home.”

That focus on relationships and the skill and knowledge of 30-year veterans like Nugent and Bonner have impressed Nelson Blackwell of Vaughn Construction, an earthmoving general contractor that does business with Jimerson Underground. “They’re dependable,” says Blackwell. “They’re going to be there for you year-in and year-out. To them, it’s more than just the price on the bid. They’re the people you want on your team.”

Belt-tightening

The recession of 2008-2011 was a stark reminder of just how important this philosophy was to the company.

Employees went without bonuses, and executives went without pay for a

period, but the company got through it without resorting to layoffs.

One thing it did change during the recession was its philosophy about equipment management. Before the recession the company would run equipment “until the paint fell off,” says Jimerson. But the slowdown in work and the lack of cash flow made it essential to sell most of the assets that weren’t vital to the work at hand.

Today, equipment acquisition and disposal decisions are much more strategic, says Wolford.

Jimerson Underground has also been rigorous about sticking to what it does best. On occasion it’ll do a bit of site work for a friend or longtime customer, but the core business is underground utilities – basic water and sewer installations.

“Our guys know water and sewer,” says Wolford. “From the office to the estimator to the permits to the field, everybody knows exactly what to do.”

Proof that this philosophy works comes from customer Falin Ishee at Turner Construction.

“From the start it has been a positive impression,” Ishee says. “They are great to work with, from the office staff to the field. Utilities are always a pain to deal with, but they make it easy. They are one of the contractors who stand out.”

Volunteer to win

Having broken through the glass ceiling in one of the most maledominated businesses in the country, Jimerson’s advice to those who want to succeed is essentially the same for men or women – build relationships.

It is essential to not just join your local construction and civic organizations, but to volunteer and get on committees in those organizations, Jimerson says.

“That’s how you meet suppliers and other contractors that you may work for someday,” she says. “Even if it’s just a 5-second introduction and handshake, they will at least know who you are. Once you get involved, you’re going to get out of it what you put into it.”

35 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

This Montana Contractor Succeeds

by Expanding into New Markets

L

by Marcia Doyle

ike many in this business, Joe Horner grew up in construction, with his father – also named Joe – putting him on a loader when he was 9 years old. “I loved it,” says Horner. “It was the most fun I could ever have, and it’s all I ever wanted to do after that.”

After Horner was in the workforce for a while, his father called.

“Let’s start a construction firm,” he said.

That was the 1988 beginnings of what is now known as MRTE, which stands for Missouri River Trucking and Excavating. Horner’s father retired about 10 years ago.

Starting out with revenues at about $500,000 a year, MRTE now has between $8 million and $10 million in revenues and does a variety of work, including site excavation, utility installation, demolition and concrete flatwork along with offering their trucks and lowboys for hire.

“Up until last year, we doubled our revenues every year for three years in a row,” says Joe’s wife, Glenda Horner, who runs MRTE’s business side, including human resources and accounting. Although growth was slower last year, MRTE’s sand and gravel operation revenues went up about 40%.

Joe Horner MRTE City, State: Great Falls, Montana Year Started: 1988 Number of 45 employees: Annual $8 million to revenue: $10 million Markets Commercial, private, served: concrete, paving and aggregates production

“We look for jobs that have asphalt in the bid and pay for it that way,” Horner says.

“The company has displayed steady growth and expansion into other aspects of earthmoving and construction. I believe they are a great model in teaching smaller contractors how to responsibly grow in this industry,” says Don Reed with Tractor and Equipment.

Diverse fleet

MRTE works primarily within a 150-mile radius of Great Falls, Montana.

Material production

Prompted by the fact it was hard to get materials when they needed them, MRTE started a ready-mix concrete business eight years ago and now owns three gravel pits. And three years ago it invested in an asphalt plant.

Now homebuilders and commercial builders in the area rely on MRTE’s ready-mix operation to provide them with materials for flatwork, footings and walls.

Although it had operated rented gravel pits throughout the years, MRTE bought a 320-acre property eight years ago along the Sun River. “It’s a great pit for concrete material because we dig it out of the water, and it’s already clean,” Horner says. “We consume about 50% of the material that leaves here, and our customers take the rest.” The pit offers around 10 products, including road mixes, fractured and washed materials. The property also yields fill dirt and topsoil.

Asphalt paving has been part of the firm’s offerings for several years, and the plant was purchased to supply the company with material for its own jobs.

Joe Horner keeps a diverse fleet.

“I try to spread the wealth,” he says.

“We have a little bit of everything, and we buy equipment from everyone.”

Since he hauls equipment for several area equipment dealers, offering a statewide low-boy service, Horner keeps a diverse fleet. “I try to spread the wealth,” he says. “We have a little bit of everything, and we buy equipment from everyone.”

MRTE’s fleet includes a dozen excavators, 10 wheel loaders and seven skid steers. Other machines include graders, rollers, articulated trucks, trailers and a milling machine. It also has aggregates-related units including jaw crushers, impact crushers and screening plants.

During the summer, MRTE has three full-time mechanics. In the winter that increases to five, as a couple of field

37 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

people come in to get the equipment ready for the next season. “Wes Brewer is our head mechanic, and he’s been with us for almost 20 years,” Horner says.

“Winters are busy for the shop,” Horner explains. “We go through every piece of equipment.” It also helps that there’s not the immediate pressure to get it out the door and back out on the job as there is during the summer.

Expanding footprint

For many years, Horner had an office in his house, located next to the company acreage, along with a shop facility. “Before that I was doing work in my pickup and at home at night on the kitchen table,” he says.

The home office got snug, so Horner built a 2,000-square-foot office building

next to MRTE’s shop about 12 years ago. Horner says the company’s 140acre site just outside of Great Falls offers great advantages. “We have lots of room to grow and expand,” he says.

Horner recently installed an equipment washing facility as a shop addition. A separate office building may also be in the offing. “There are a lot of distractions in the shop,” Horner explains. “In the morning it gets pretty crazy around here.”

In addition to Glenda, Horner is joined at the company by his son Josh Horner and nephew Grant Hudspeth, both of whom assist with estimating.

The family help is welcome since “we have an extremely hard time finding people for all positions, but especially truck drivers,” Horner says.

“I’m usually here before 6 a.m.,

out in the shop, tidying things up, whatever I’ve got to do before everybody gets here,” says Horner.

Along with managing projects and being the head estimator, he also oversees the shop and dispatches the gravel and the lowboy trucks.

“When Joe says he’s going to do something, he’s on top of it and getting it done,” says client James Hoiland with Green-Up. “One concrete pour went bad on a job and even though it was another company’s problem he had his guys go in there and tear it all out. He was going to make it right.”

“I’m hard core with my safety, and MRTE is very much the same,” Hoiland continues. “There’s no bending of the rules with it.”

MRTE’s services include site excavation, utility installation, demolition and concrete flatwork along with offering their trucks and lowboys for hire.

38 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Building on Faith, Oak Hill Contractors Expands Beyond Mining Reclamation

J

by Marcia Doyle

osh Burkholder grew up on his family farm and times were tough.

Searching for ways to bring in family income, he started mowing lawns and then turned to construction. It’s a move that came out of necessity, and he now says it “grew beyond anything I ever imagined.”

This growth shouldn’t be a surprise when you look at his background.

“My dad always drilled customer service into us,” Burkholder says. “We’re here to serve the customer. That’s where our bread and butter come from.”

Along the way, several people have given his company a hand up, Burkholder says.

There was the small community bank that loaned him the money for his first piece of equipment: a zero-turn lawnmower. “We still use them,” Burkholder says, “even though we’ve outgrown them to some extent.”

He also credits an engineering team with a local mining company with seeing Oak Hill’s potential in doing the mine’s reclamation work. In 2010, the mining company hired Oak Hill to move 170,000 yards of dirt, a job that

Josh Burkholder, Oak Hill Contractors LLC City, State: Ewing, Illinois Year Started: 2005 Number of 40-70 employees: Annual revenue: $14 million to $15 million Markets Landfill cell served: construction, agriculture site and drainage grading, overburden stripping, levees, coal mine site development, maintenance, reclamation

Jon (left) and Josh Burkholder along with “assistants” (left to right) Alex, Kaden and Karson Burkholder.

they bid at around $500,000. “That was monstrous for us at the time,” Burkholder says.

“They really went out on a limb for us,” Burkholder adds. “They were instrumental in taking us from a couple of boys with a dozer to a company that could actually compete and perform major jobs.”

Oak Hill used a combination of owned and rented excavators, dozers and articulated trucks along with tractors and pull-behind scrapers to complete that first mining job. “A lot of the earthmoving involved short moves so we could do things efficiently,” Burkholder says.

Family first

Family is a central theme at the company, part of the Burkholders’ deep Mennonite faith. Burkholder’s brother Jon manages the fleet, shop operations and projects. “He’s a lot more detail oriented,” Burkholder says.

“It’s a good partnership. There’s a lot give and take, and it’s worked out

really well.”

The family also had a narrow escape.

While visiting an accounting firm in Pennsylvania, their plane crashed on takeoff. Burkholder, Jon and their dad, Eugene, all sustained serious injuries.

“We essentially flew into the side of a hill,” Burkholder says. “It’s a miracle we survived because the plane was structurally destroyed even though there was not a lot of visual damage.”

The accident happened in late 2015.

“In 2016, our company basically ran on autopilot after coming off a good year,” Burkholder says. “I would go into the office and look at the stacks of paper, and I just couldn’t concentrate.”

The company rebounded in 2017 after another large mining project came through, but that also marked the last year that mining reclamation projects were the company’s primary income source.

Three years ago, Oak Hill was almost 100% devoted to coal mine reclamation jobs. Those projects are now down to 30% of the company’s

work as it has expanded into landfill cell construction and U.S. Army Corps of Engineer work. Corps work has stretched Oak Hill beyond it’s normal 150-mile geographical footprint; it’s now performing levee work on the Texas-Louisiana border, something Burkholder sees the company doing only on a limited basis.

Oak Hill crews are working a job alongside the Ohio River that involves both earthmoving and marine construction. “When bidding it, there was a question of which approach you would take – working from the land or from the water,” Burkholder explains.

“We saw very little work that we couldn’t do from land, and it’s been an awesome contract.”

Oak Hill bid the project with crawler carriers but found that its tractors and 21-yard pull-behind scrapers were a better fit for the soft underfoot conditions. “The difference was in the volume of dirt they could move, but we’re still pulling one instead of two.

There’s a lot of rolling resistance.”

40 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Growth ahead?

Oak Hill’s annual revenues are now in the $14 million to $15 million range. “I see a huge variable in the bottom line if we can go from there to $18 million, because we have the infrastructure in place,” Burkholder says. “A lot of the overhead costs are taken care of.”

With growth in mind, Burkholder is considering adding a salesperson and a controller. “We’re trying to get better prepared for the long haul,” he says.

“I’m trying to transition out of thinking I have to do everything to training other people so that I’m not so tied down with the nitty-gritty.”

The “long haul,” as Burkholder puts it, is also present as he sees the children – now still quite young – grow up in his family.

“Those who are going to survive in this industry are going to stay in the harness and figure out ways to adapt and get it done,” he says.

“We have finite resources and a finite amount of people. Good technicians are hard to find, so I now look at what investment can we make that makes us flow better and be more profitable each season.”

Tandem excavators at work on a $4 million U.S. Army Corps of Engineers job along the Ohio River.

For example, this year Oak Hill had tractors and pull-behind scrapers available for jobs, but no artics, which prompted him to rent six trucks for a job near St. Louis. “But it’s going to

be painful for me to write that rental check,” he admits. “I like to own the equipment we’re using.”

The company built its current office and shop in 2017. “I can’t imagine what we’d do without that shop and its overhead crane,” Burkholder says.

“We do a high percentage of our own work.” The company also has an equipment division that manages buying and selling used fleet and trucking services.

“When you’re getting the operator from them, you’re actually getting an operator and not just getting somebody that is sitting in a seat,” says client Chris Russell with Hamilton County Coal. “They are great communicators and that makes a big difference.”

“Josh and Jon are people of their word,” says Kevin Gore with client JennMar Services. “I couldn’t have higher praise for anybody that I work with.”

Oak Hill Contractors serves several markets including coal mine reclamation, landfill cell construction and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers projects.

41 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST Between them, Ryan Greenwood, Bill Panunzio and Curtis Collard (left to right) offer more than 100 years of construction experience.

“We All Just Worked Our Guts Out”: Barnhart Pulls in $1.7M in First Year

B

by Marcia Doyle

Bill Panunzio, Curtis Collard, Ryan Greenwood, Preferred Paving

ill Panunzio was employed by a construction firm and looking for his chance.

City, State: Salt Lake City, Utah “I was running their jobs and thought, ‘If these guys can do it, why can’t I?’” Panunzio says. “So at 49 years old, I started all Year Started: 1997 over again.”

Industry veterans Curtis Collard and Ryan Greenwood were also looking for Number of 37 new opportunities. Collard had been running FP Asphalt & Crack Sealing, and employees: Greenwood was running his sealcoating division. The three got together and formed Preferred Paving in 1997.

Annual $10 million to $13 million Wes Turner, project manager and estimator for the company, had joined revenue: Collard’s business before Preferred was formed. “At that time, we did Markets Site excavation, grading, primarily crack sealing and small patching,” Turner says. “When Bill came, we served: asphalt paving and bought the paver and got after it.” maintenance Combined they have more than 100 years of construction experience, and that showed in their results. The first year, the company had $1.7 million in revenues doing a combination of commercial and residential asphalt work.

“We all just worked our guts out,” Panunzio says bluntly.

Preferred Paving now has revenues between $10 million and $13 million, 37 employees and specializes in commercial grading, site excavation, asphalt paving and maintenance.

“We have the luxury to choose to do the jobs we want to do and do them right,” Panunzio says. In fact, the company motto is “don’t just do it – do it the best.”

All three take a hands-on approach to the business. They have served various roles throughout their time together – basically whatever needs to be done.

Collard now serves as an estimator, project manager and oversees safety.

Safety is an integral part of the tight weave that makes Preferred Paving’s jobs run smoothly.

Suzanna Allen, who has been with Preferred for more than 20 years, runs the company’s sealcoating division, which provides a variety of repair services.

In the early days, the company created an accounting system that serves them today. After a general contractor required them to go through complicated invoicing hoops that delayed payment, Preferred Paving developed a work order system that included the job and invoice numbers that the GC signed on the spot.

“The way we do business is really simple,” Collard says. “Our work order is also our invoice number.

We have a low percentage of uncollected invoices.”

Core and a spare

Heated driveways

Preferred has a fleet of pavers, graders, excavators and rollers.

“The Cat 555-size pavers work out perfect for us because you do both big and small custom jobs,” Greenwood says. The company has four pavers, which usually translates to three out on jobs and one spare. “That spare has really helped us,” Panunzio says.

The Cat 120 grader is also a good fit.

“It’s just versatile,” Greenwood says.

“You can do both a subdivision with it and a custom driveway.” Same with utility rollers that can be pulled with a pickup and transported anywhere.

“Very rarely is our equipment in our yard,” Panunzio says.

Residential and commercial customers are now starting to request heated driveways. “They get so much snow up in areas like Park City, and they don’t want to shovel their driveways,” Turner says. “We’re paving asphalt over heat tubing, and we’re one of the few companies in Utah that will do that.”

This work requires digging down around 10 inches and putting down the road base. Preferred then hires a firm to place the heat tubing that runs a mixture of heated water and antifreeze in a closed-loop system. The sub then connects it to a boiler located in a house or building and pressurizes the system.

Preferred Paving then comes back in, places sand around and above the piping, a job that requires hand

Preferred Paving crews on a High West Distillery project in Wanship, Utah, 40 miles outside of Salt Lake City.

43 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Preferred Paving’s Suzanna Allen and Wes Turner

placement. “You rake it out by hand, then you can water it and roll it,” Turner says. “At that point, you can put a paver and truck on it, but you can’t turn. You really have to pick your angle and then go straight out and pick another angle.”

Utah homeowners like that, even in a snowstorm, they’ll have a wet driveway with no accumulation.

Advice for those getting into construction

Collard warns contractors not to get too excited about their first big profit on a job. “Don’t make $10,000 and then buy a boat, jet skis and four wheelers,” he says. “If the next two jobs are losers, you’re trying to figure out how to pay for materials. Wait to

buy the toys and make sure you have a good accounting system.”

“And don’t do it unless you have access to good people, because people are everything,” Collard emphasizes.

“You can buy all the equipment in the world, but if you don’t have good people, you won’t go far. If you don’t have experience, you must have people who have experience.”

“They are outstanding professionals,” says client Andrew Carlino with CR England. “They treat people like people and not like numbers, and they’re quick to get a job done. Everybody works hard and everyone works together as a team. In fact, I wish I could load them up and take them with me to the other states I cover.”

“We have plenty of options in the valley with paving contractors, and the fact that we use them almost exclusively speaks volumes,” says Tony Treasure with Noland & Son. “They do excellent work. They know it’s about more than being a contractor; it’s about being a craftsman and truly being bought in to the quality of work you’re putting out.”

Preferred Paving at the High West Distillery.

44 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

W.F. Delauter Grows from One Dozer to 135-Piece Fleet

by Marcia Doyle

K

irby Delauter’s father, Russ, jokingly refers to the firm he and his father, Willie, formed in 1955 as a “one-horse operation.” Change that from one horse to one dozer, which the fatherson team used to perform residential and commercial grading.

Now, far from that one-dozer start, the company is run by third-generation Kirby Delauter and his wife, Tina Delauter. The $10 million to $12 million firm does a variety of work – including site development, demolition, utilities, bridges and stormwater management – in three states.

Kirby’s entering the firm wasn’t necessarily a done deal, however. After serving six years in the U.S. Army, “I didn’t know what I wanted to do, and I didn’t think I was college material,” Kirby recalls. He joined the family firm and proved so adept he became president in 1994.

And after working for several years outside the company, Kirby and Tina’s son William has joined the firm and is on his way to becoming the 66-yearold company’s fourth generation. A

Kirby and Tina Delauter W.F. Delauter & Son City, State: Emmitsburg, Maryland Year Started: 1955 Number of 70 employees: Annual revenue: $8 million to $10 million Three generations: Kirby, Tina, William and Russ Delauter at the company’s office in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Markets Site development, served: demolition, utilities, sewer pump stations, bridges, excavation, stormwater management and stabilization

find in a book.”

“That showed me more about what he’s made of than anything because he handled it in a way that I couldn’t have,” says Russ.

The experience has prompted an emphasis on measured, steady growth.

“We could be three times the size we are right now,” Kirby says, “but I want to grow the company responsibly.”

He expected the business to increase revenues to $13 million to $15 million last fiscal year, which ended in March.

Sharp eye

W.F. Delauter crews on the $3.6 million Gas House Pike Bridge in Frederick, Maryland.

licensed civil engineer, William has “the education to take this as far as he wants to take it,” Kirby says.

“After being on the design side, now I’m getting more of the construction side,” William says. But keep in mind he did grow up working in the family business before college, and Kirby says he “knows what it’s like getting dirty in the ditches.”

Great Recession

Like many in this industry, the Great Recession hit the company hard. “It’s something I’ve never seen before,” Kirby says. “It took us from around 65 employees down to 16.”

“You just worked through it because that’s all you could do,” he adds. “You learned a lot of things that you’ll never

Part of that responsible growth is keeping a sharp eye on equipment needs. “We run a little leaner now,” Kirby says. “If we don’t need something, I may sell it and then think about renting it.”

Kirby frequently uses RPOs and buys used if it’s a machine he expects to put less than 1,000 hours a year on.

“Excavators, loaders and dozers are our frontline pieces, so I’m either going to buy them new or low-hour used,” Kirby says. The firm has around 135 major pieces of equipment.

In addition to the heavy machines, W.F. Delauter has seven compact track loaders. “They’re powerful and they get the job done,” Kirby says. “With

The International TD6 dozer that Willie and Russ Delauter used when starting W.F. Delauter now sits at the entrance to the firm and serves as the backdrop in this company photo.

46 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST

Crew members on a W.F. Delauter subdivision grading and stormwater management project.

a blade on them, you can sometimes use them as a default for a D4. It won’t push as much, but it gets around better. And we’ve had zero problems with them.”

Clients notice the appearance of W.F. Delauter machines on their jobsites.

“His equipment is always in tip-top shape,” says Vinny Flook, owner of Vinny’s Towing, who has done several projects with the company.

The company has three full-time mechanics, including one who specializes in engines. “We do most of our work in-house, such as reinstalling refurbished undercarriages,” Kirby says. A fuel/lube truck services the company’s jobs.

Learning that a local college had a Cat simulator but no instructor, Kirby raised his hand and taught equipment operation evenings and weekends.

He took the students to one of his jobsites where they spent eight weeks operating equipment.

“All of the students passed the class,” Kirby says. He didn’t stop there: he helped them create resumes and gave them contacts. All found employment – at $22 to $24 an hour – within weeks of completing the course.

Tina joined Kirby in the office around eight years ago and handles business development, HR and manages the company’s 60 construction Dumpsters for its roll-off division. The division developed out of W.F. Delauter’s need to haul construction debris off its own sites and now generates about $700,000 a year.

“We’re also looking at marketing recycled construction materials to other contractors,” Tina says.

Family first

The company has around 70 employees, including five utility crews, two grading crews and a concrete crew. “I’ve always felt that good people attract good people,” Kirby says.

“We feel that family comes first,” Tina adds. “I think that gives them an incentive to stick with us. And once you feel like you’re part of the team, you’re locked in with the group. We always tell them there’s room to grow.

You might be a laborer now, but if you can jump on the backhoe and learn, for example, there’s a lot of potential to grow.”

Tina and Kirby also keep an eye on local labor rates, Kirby says. “I ask

myself, ‘Are we going to keep good people, and do people believe in us enough to sustain that?’” he says.

“It’s really been an honor for us to continue the legacy that Russ and Willie built from the ground up,” says Tina.

Client appreciation

You get a sense of both the legacy and the future of W.F. Delauter when you talk to its clients.

“They always stand behind their word,” says Steve Oder with Cavalier Development. “I could do a handshake contract with them and be perfectly comfortable. There’s not many of those around anymore.”

“Concerns were quickly put to rest after seeing how conscientious, knowledgeable and skilled [their] employees were throughout the duration of the project,” says Gale Engles, bureau chief for the Carroll County, Maryland, Bureau of Resource Management.

“One thing that’s really impressed me, especially considering the size of his business, is how much he’s available and how responsive he is,” Flook says. “If it comes out his mouth, it’s golden.”

47 2021 CONTRACTOR OF THE YEAR FINALIST